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To simulate manufacturing processes is fine. It gets you closer to the real thing a whole lot faster. But with a new technology development, Chrysler is not only able to simulate workcells, but to actually generate the actual programs needed to run the real equipment at the same time.

The World Class Vehicle Launch series investigates the launch performance of five leading vehicle assembly firms operating in North America, and examines their past and future launch strategies. The companies reviewed in our analysis include Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Honda. We have collected monthly production data on vehicles (30 launches) launched by these companies in North America between 1992 and 1996. Although there were more than 30 launches during this period, our initial investigation focuses on single product, single plant launches. This article focuses on Chrysler and is the fourth in the series. It is important to note that there are many measures of a successful launch. This series analyzes a launch event in only the most basic form: the time it takes a facility to return to capacity in terms of production. This series is not meant to be an exhaustive study on launch performance, but instead it is meant to further the understanding of the vehicle launch process.

Although they're producing vehicles with four tires, a gasoline engine, and a steering wheel, the folks at Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing in Indiana aren't making cars, but material handling equipment. And unlike the folks in Kentucky, they're also building units with three tires and electric motors, too.